one of the funniest phenomena in the world of electronics is the progression of programmable ROM chips. between the early 70s and the early 80s, i think, new ROM products were released in this order:
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ROM - Read Only Memory (aka "mask ROM"): a chip that contains a chunk of binary data which is set at the factory and can never be changed
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PROM - Programmable Read Only Memory: same as a ROM, but it's sold blank, and you can program it one time, after which it can never be changed
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EPROM - Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory: same as a PROM, but you can erase it with ultraviolet light and then program it again
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EEPROM - Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory: same as an EPROM, but you can erase it with electricity and then program it again
all of these are pin-compatible. to the best of my knowledge, there is no reason to use anything but an EEPROM, they're simply superior, with no drawbacks except cost.
but instead of just going "here's the new ROM product, it has new features," we kept adding letters. now, i say we shouldn't have stopped. SD cards should be EEILPTRNROM or some shit and we should pronounce the whole thing every single time we refer to them. stuff should have worse names. pcmcia is not hard to remember boomers just love blustering about made up problems
